NIABT Board of Trustees’ Meeting
Minutes
Monday 12 December 2011
Present:
Glyn Roberts NIIRTA
Leslie Cree MBE MLA
Chris Lyttle MLA
David McClarty MLA
Gareth McGrath
John Rooney Rooney Fish
Joanne Stuart Attrus Ltd
Grainne Walsh Stratagem
Sheila McClelland NIABT Secretary
Also in attendance:
Ivor Gibson NIABT Co-ordinator
Peter Hall NIA Secretariat
As the Chair sent his apologies, the vice Chair chaired the meeting.
1. Apologies:
Apologies were received from the following Board members:
Robin Newton MLA
Sue Ramsey MLA
Lord Ballyedmond Norbrook Laboratories
James Devlin BT NI
Alec McRitchie Bombardier Aerospace Ltd
2. Declaration of Interests
No members declared an interest in relation to the agenda items.
3. Adoption of previous minutes
It was proposed by Leslie Cree MLA and seconded by John Rooney that the minutes of the previous meeting were true and accurate.
4. Matters arising
5.
The majority of matters arising from the minutes form substantive agenda items.
The staff of the Trust have been in contact with the Northern Bank and will use a Standing Order payment method for 2012/2013 business contributions.
6. Patrons
The Board agreed to move forward with the creation of a role for Patrons within the Trust. A letter is to be drafted and sent to the NIABT President for his approval.
7. Events
The vice Chair provided a synopsis of recent and planned events:
Recent
8 November: A briefing on the collaborative opportunities of EU Framework 7 Programme was delivered. Simon Grattan and Aidan Gough of InterTradeIreland presented to the Trust and were joined on a Q & A panel by Joanne Coyle, Robert Boyle, Fahra Brahmni and Lisa O’Reilly, all from Invest NI.
21 November: A delegation took part in a 4 day European Programme based at the Irish Institute in Leuven, Belgium. 9 MLAs and 6 business representatives attended the programme. John Rooney and Glyn Roberts provided positive feedback on the quality of the programme.
Forthcoming
12 December 2011: A Christmas reception is to be held at 6:00pm immediately following the Board meeting. The NIABT President will open the reception. Alastair Hamilton, Invest NI, Kathryn Thomson, NITB and Anne McReynolds, MAC will be speaking at the event.
13 December 2011: A breakfast briefing on Competition Law will be delivered by Kyla Brand and Marcia Polleti of the Office of Fair Trading tomorrow morning.
17 January 2012: Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Confucius Institute for Northern Ireland will deliver a briefing on the importance of trade links between Northern Ireland and China.
14 February 2012: A social media breakfast briefing will he held. Ciaran Norris will deliver a briefing on the pros and cons of social media in today’s business world.
16 February 2012: The President’s annual Dinner will be held in Parliament Buildings, commencing at 7:00pm.
28 February 2012: A Young Directors Forum panel event will be held in the evening at 5:30pm.
8 March 2012: Chris Lyttle MLA fellowship with James Brown Funeral Services.
13 March 2012: A Property market update will be delivered by CBRE and RICS.
22 March 2012: A regional business lunchtime event in Craigavon will be held. Details to follow.
22 March 2012: A regional business dinner will be held in Omagh in the evening of 22 March. Details to follow.
17 April 2012: A breakfast briefing on the Eurozone will be delivered by David Phinnemore of Queens University. The Board felt that it would be beneficial to bring this event forward to an earlier date if possible. Staff to contact David Phinnemore with regards to this.
8 May 2012: A social economy breakfast briefing will be delivered in partnership with NICVA.
16 May 2012: A Balmoral Show business breakfast will be held in the Kings’ Hall.
Future Board meetings
6 Feb 2012: 5:00pm in Room 21
12 Mar 2012: 5:00pm in Room 21
21 May 2012: 5:00pm in Room 21
The Board agreed to approach Harland & Wolff with regards to arranging an NIABT educational visit. John Rooney to make contact with H & W to explore this.
8. Fellowships
The vice Chair reported that following the issue of a promotional flyer in the autumn, 10 MLAs had expressed interest in participating in fellowships with a wide spread of business members.
9. Brussels Programme:
The educational trip to Brussels was covered in agenda item 6.
10. Financial update:
A financial update covering the period from 1 November to 30 November was discussed and agreed.
11. Membership applications:
3 membership applications were approved by the Board. These are in respect of;
• John Sisk & Son Ltd.
• eDoc Deposit Ltd.
• Ortus
12. Membership removals:
The Board approved removal of 3 businesses due to 1 non-renewal of membership and at 2 company requests:
Rio/Brazil had not paid their membership.
Flybe and Jury’s Inn had both written to the Secretary to withdraw their membership applications which were both recently approved. Both companies are to review their position in the new financial year and consider reapplying at that time.
13. Correspondence
The vice Chair reported that 1 item of correspondence had been received from Nicola Irwin, Business Sense NI, one of the Trust’s business members. The letter was in relation to a company called Oakland offering to deliver a briefing to the NIABT.
After consideration, the Board decided that as the nature of the suggested topics did not fit with the Trust’s strategic plan, it would not be feasible to accept the offer at present.
14. Parliament Building Passes
The vice Chair reported that the issue of Parliament Building passes for NIABT Board members has been resolved.
Previously, the NIABT secretary had written to Facilities Branch to enquire about the possibility of having passes issued.
A reply has been received from Damien Martin, Acting Director of Facilities in the NI Assembly to the effect that this is not possible. Grainne Walsh and Joanne Stuart went on record to state that they welcomed this decision.
15. Newsletter
The vice Chair asked if the Board members had any articles they wish to be considered for inclusion or any ideas for suggested content of the newsletter, that they should pass this on.
16. AOB
The vice Chair reminded the Board members that the Christmas reception is commencing at 6:00pm in the Brasserie.
The vice Chair went on to pay tribute to the outgoing Secretary who is soon to leave her post. Sheila McClelland will be leaving the Assembly and the Business Trust over the Christmas period to take up a new post as Chief Executive of Carrickfergus Council.